MD&DI’s Medical Manufacturer of the Year: Our Search Begins

Originally Published MDDI May 2003

FROM THE EDITORS

MD&DI's Medical Manufacturer of the Year: Our Search Begins

The medical device industry has been distinguished by many outstanding companies over the years. It's time to honor them.

In this issue of MD&DI, we are pleased to announce the beginning of our search for MD&DI's Medical Manufacturer of the Year. A nomination form is included on page 70 of this issue, and we strongly encourage all of our readers to participate in the initial selection process. The chosen company will be profiled in the September 2003 issue of the magazine.

The idea behind this honor is simple. For more than 20 years, the editors of MD&DI and its sister publications have been covering the medical device industry. We have always shared our opinions among ourselves about which companies in the industry we most admired, and why. But we have never gone public with our conclusions. 

For six years, however, we have sponsored and participated in Canon Communications LLC's Medical Design Excellence Awards (MDEA). We have seen firsthand the benefits to industry of this awards program. But it is a program that honors products, not companies. It is time, we believe, to honor companies themselves.

This is not to suggest that the MDEA program will be a model for this magazine's process of choosing a manufacturer of the year. As befits a program focused on highly regulated medical products, the MDEA process is highly sophisticated and elaborate. It involves a large number of people from industry as submitters and judges, and, thanks to those judges, represents a broad range of expert opinion and analysis of specific products.

By contrast, our process will be a more personal one. Our assessments of the companies you nominate will be based on our own follow-up research, interviews with company representatives, and experienced judgment. The company we settle on 
will not be The Medical Manufacturer of the Year, but MD&DI's Medical Manufacturer of the Year. 

What are we looking for? Above all, a good story. We are looking for companies that have triumphed over the odds, or found and followed a unique path to market, or shown innovative leadership in their management. 

The criteria for eligibility are simple. Only manufacturers of finished medical products will be considered. Companies may be large or small, established or start-ups, famous or obscure, and from any market sector. Anyone may make a nomination, regardless of affiliation—whether an officer or employee of the company, a supplier to that company, or simply an interested observer.

We welcome your participation in the selection process on our Web site at devicelink.com/mddi. You may enter your nomination on-line using an interactive form that will be available (the deadline for nominations is June 16). In addition, we will maintain a list of nominees on the site, and give you the opportunity to comment on them. And if you would like to make your case for the nominee in person, please feel free to call or e-mail us or to drop by our booth at MD&M East in New York City June 2–4. The company selected will be announced on-line, prior to publication of the September issue.

While our cover story in the September issue will be focused on a single company, it will celebrate much more than that. We do not expect the Manufacturer of the Year to be an isolated case of excellence. Rather, it will be a specific example of the general excellence of this industry.

The Editors

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